7.20.2007

Children of Men is a futuristic look at society two decades into the future. It stars Clive Owen.

This film takes place in the year 2027. Rather than things being so technologically advanced, the writers chose to have their technology circa 2010, because at that point the world fell apart- literally. The entire planet is in turmoil with anarchy prevalent everywhere except for Great Britian. “Jolly Good!” for the Brits, as theirs is the only country left. As if this wasn’t enough of a problem, on top of that, no one has been able to have a baby in almost twenty years. While the infertility specialists must be busy working on the problem, the other issue of the day is that England has been overrun with illegal aliens, called “fugees,” short for fugitives in the film.

While this is a cautionary, and apocalyptic look at mankind’s future, there is much unexplained here. Why is the world in anarchy, and the fugitives in England? What is the reason for worldwide infertility? And why is one women appearing to carry her pregnancy to term? Even at the end, I’m unsettled and wondering why raise so many questions without answers (kind of like a Senator Chucky Schumer Sunday press conference...).

While Children of Men has some intriguing visual imagery, including the futuristic cars designed to look beat up and old, the story is clearly lacking here. I feel like this movie was very half baked and too far from the mainstream to appeal to a mass audience.